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BY KARRYN MILLER

SILK is deeply ingrained in the cultures of south-east Asian countries. "In Laos every stitch of clothing used to be made of silk, even baby diapers," said Mark Sloneker, founder of sustainable, fair-trade website Orijyn (www.orijyn.com), which sells Laotian silk products abroad.…

BY MARK ROWE

REMEMBER swine flu? While minute-by-minute updates in the international media have evaporated, the H1N1 virus has not, and airports around the world are being advised to maintain elevated levels of vigilance and good hygiene.

In June 2009, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the H1N1 virus alert to ‘Phase Six’ – signifying a pandemic – where it remains at the time of writing.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, FRANCES WANG, AHMAD PATHONI, WILLIAM BARNES, KARRYN MILLER and KEITH NUTHALL

THE PEOPLE of Okinawa are famous – even in ageing Japan – for their longevity. The women of this sub-tropical chain of islands have the longest life expectancy in the world, at nearly 89 years, they have the lowest mortality rate from chronic diseases linked to ageing and the highest ration of centenarians in the world – nearly six times the rate in other industrialised nations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PEER reviews have begun assessing the banking and tax transparency systems promoted by the G20 group of nations following the international contagion of financial problems sparked by the credit crunch. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development’s (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information will undertake the process.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RICH country cosmetics companies maybe able to avoid undertaking chemical safety tests in key emerging markets because of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) mutual acceptance of data system. Using the unlikely acronym MAD, this procedure enables signatory countries to accept chemical safety tests carried out in fellow member states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROGRESS report issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has claimed almost 300 tax transparency agreements have been signed by jurisdictions since the April 2009 G20 summit in London. This called on governments and sub-national administrations worldwide to adopt the OECD’s standards on revealing and exchanging tax information.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RICH country textile and clothing chemical and dyes companies maybe able to avoid undertaking chemical safety tests in key emerging markets because of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) mutual acceptance of data system. Using the unlikely acronym MAD, this procedure enables signatory countries to accept chemical safety tests carried out in fellow member states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RICH country textile and clothing chemical and dyes companies maybe able to avoid undertaking chemical safety tests in key emerging markets because of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) mutual acceptance of data system. Using the unlikely acronym MAD, this procedure enables signatory countries to accept chemical safety tests carried out in fellow member states.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR, FRANCES WANG, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA and KARRYN MILLER

The Asian beer market, having overtaken Europe, is now the largest in the world, according to Japanese brewery Kirin. The region accounts for 31.7% of global consumption, compared to 30.8% for Europe, claims the annual report from the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA

INTRODUCTION

"INDIA can emerge as a leader in the global food processing industry," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2009 while addressing a conference of food processing ministers of different Indian states in New Delhi, noting the country’s US$100 billion food processing sector grew by 14.7% in 2009.…